Kids with HIV Growing Up Well, Living Longer

Once facing an almost certain death sentence, most children born with HIV are now faring well into adolescence and adulthood, according to a newly published study co-authored by Tulane infectious diseases expert Dr. Russell Van Dyke. The study was published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

“About two thirds of these kids, at this point, don't have virus detectable in the blood,” says Van Dyke, professor and chief of the section of pediatric infectious diseases. “While they are still infected and they are not cured, it’s surprising how well they're doing, considering what they’ve been through.”

The Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study is tracking the effects and complications of a lifetime of infection and its treatment.